CASTING PSYCHIC POWERS
Whether a psychic power is
arcane/innate or mystical, and whether a character prepares psychic powers in
advance or chooses them on the spot, casting a psychic power works the same
way.
CHOOSING A PSYCHIC POWER
First you must choose which psychic
power to cast. If you’re a Mystic Psyker or an Arcane Psyker you select the
psychic power from among psychic powers prepared earlier in the day and not yet
cast.
If you’re an innate psyker, you can
select any psychic power you know, provided you are capable of casting psychic
powers of that level or higher.
To cast a psychic power, you must
be able to speak (if the psychic power has a verbal component), gesture (if it
has a somatic component), and manipulate the material components or focus (if
any). Additionally, you must concentrate to cast a psychic power.
If a psychic power has multiple
versions, you choose which version to use when you cast it. You don’t have to
prepare (or learn, in the case of an innate psyker) a specific version of the
psychic power.
Once you’ve cast a prepared psychic
power, you can’t cast it again until you prepare it again. (If you’ve prepared
multiple copies of a single psychic power, you can cast each copy once.) If
you’re an innate psyker, casting a psychic power counts against your daily
limit for psychic powers of that power level, but you can cast the same psychic
power again if you haven’t reached your limit.
CONCENTRATION
To cast a psychic power, you must
concentrate. If something interrupts your concentration while you’re casting,
you must make a Concentration check or lose the psychic power. The more
distracting the interruption and the higher the level of the psychic power you
are trying to cast, the higher the DC is. If you fail the check, you lose the
psychic power just as if you had cast it to no effect.
Injury: If while trying
to cast a psychic power you take damage, you must make a Concentration check
(DC 10 + points of damage taken + the level of the psychic power you’re casting).
If you fail the check, you lose the psychic power without effect. The
interrupting event strikes during psychic powercasting if it comes between when
you start and when you complete a psychic power (for a psychic power with a
casting time of 1 full round or more) or if it comes in response to your
casting the psychic power (such as an attack of opportunity provoked by the
psychic power or a contingent attack, such as a readied action).
If you are taking continuous damage
half the damage is considered to take place while you are casting a psychic
power. You must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + 1/2 the damage that the
continuous source last dealt + the level of the psychic power you’re casting).
If the last damage dealt was the last damage that the effect could deal then
the damage is over, and it does not distract you.
Repeated damage does not count as
continuous damage.
Psychic power: If you
are affected by a psychic power while attempting to cast a psychic power of
your own, you must make a Concentration check or lose the psychic power you are
casting. If the psychic power affecting you deals damage, the DC is 10 + points
of damage + the level of the psychic power you’re casting.
If the psychic power interferes
with you or distracts you in some other way, the DC is the psychic power’s
saving throw DC + the level of the psychic power you’re casting. For a psychic
power with no saving throw, it’s the DC that the psychic power’s saving throw
would have if a save were allowed.
Grappling or Pinned: The
only psychic powers you can cast while grappling or pinned are those without
somatic components and whose material components (if any) you have in hand.
Even so, you must make a Concentration check (DC 20 + the level of the psychic
power you’re casting) or lose the psychic power.
Vigorous Motion: If you
are riding on a moving mount, taking a bouncy ride in a jeep, on a small boat
in rough water, in a starcruise shaking under heavy fire or simply being
jostled in a similar fashion, you must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + the
level of the psychic power you’re casting) or lose the psychic power.
Violent Motion: If you
are on a galloping horse, taking a very rough ride in a jeep, on a small boat
in rapids or in a storm, on the bridge of a starcruiser that is breaking apart
or being tossed roughly about in a similar fashion, you must make a
Concentration check (DC 15 + the level of the psychic power you’re casting) or
lose the psychic power.
Violent Weather: You
must make a Concentration check if you try to cast a psychic power in violent
weather. If you are in a high wind carrying blinding rain or sleet, the DC is 5
+ the level of the psychic power you’re casting. If you are in wind-driven
hail, dust, or debris, the DC is 10 + the level of the psychic power you’re
casting. In either case, you lose the psychic power if you fail the
Concentration check. If the weather is caused by a psychic power, use the rules
in the Psychic power subsection above.
Casting Defensively: If
you want to cast a psychic power without provoking any attacks of opportunity,
you must make a Concentration check (DC 15 + the level of the psychic power
you’re casting) to succeed. You lose the psychic power if you fail.
Entangled: If you want to
cast a psychic power while entangled in a net or by a tanglefoot grenade or
while you’re affected by a psychic power with similar effects, you must make a
DC 15 Concentration check to cast the psychic power. You lose the psychic power
if you fail.
COUNTERS
It is possible to cast any psychic
power as a counter. By doing so, you are using the psychic power’s energy to
disrupt the casting of the same psychic power by another character. Countering
works even if one psychic power is mystic and the other arcane/innate (so long
as they are of course the same psychic power).
How Counters Work: To
use a counter, you must select an opponent as the target of the counter. You do
this by choosing the ready action. In doing so, you elect to wait to complete
your action until your opponent tries to cast a psychic power. (You may still
move your speed, since ready is a standard action.)
If the target of your counter tries
to cast a psychic power, make a Psychic powercraft check (DC 15 + the psychic
power’s level). This check is a free action. If the check succeeds, you
correctly identify the opponent’s psychic power and can attempt to counter it.
If the check fails, you can’t do either of these things.
To complete the action, you must
then cast the correct psychic power. As a general rule, a psychic power can
only counter itself. If you are able to cast the same psychic power and you
have it prepared (if you prepare psychic powers), you cast it, altering it
slightly to create a counter effect. If the target is within range, both
psychic powers automatically negate each other with no other results.
Countering Metamagic Powers: Metamagic feats are not taken into account when determining
whether a psychic power can be countered.
Specific Exceptions:
Some psychic powers specifically counter each other, especially when they have
diametrically opposed effects.
Nullify as a Counter:
You can use nullify to counter another psyker, and you don’t need to identify
the psychic power he or she is casting. However, nullify doesn’t always work as
a counter (see the psychic power description).
PSYCHIC LEVEL
A psychic power’s power often
depends on the character’s psychic level, which for psykers is equal to all
their psyker levels added together. For instance a character who is a Mystic Psyker
Level 3 and an Arcane Psyker Level 3 the Psychic Level is 6. This has no effect
on the number of psychic powers or psychic power slots available in each psyker
list but does effect all the psychic power’s ‘level dependant’ features.
Psychic power’s will indicate when psychic level is used.
Some characters can increase their
effective Psychic Level through feats, class features or equipment. Such
character use their effective psychic level to determine a psychic power’s
effects. You can cast a psychic power at a lower psychic level than normal, but
the psychic level you choose must be high enough for you to cast the psychic
power in question, and all level-dependent features must be based on the same
psychic level.
In the event that a class feature or
other special ability provides an adjustment to your psychic level, that
adjustment applies not only to effects based on psychic level (such as range,
duration, and damage dealt) but also to your psychic level check to overcome
your target’s power resistance and to the psychic level used in nullify checks
(both the nullify check and the DC of the check).
PRE-EMPTIVE PSYCHIC POWER FAILURE
If you ever try to cast a psychic
power in conditions where the characteristics of the psychic power cannot be
made to conform, the casting fails and the psychic power is wasted.
Psychic powers also fail if your
concentration is broken and might fail if you’re wearing armor while casting a
psychic power with somatic components.
THE PSYCHIC POWER’S RESULT
Ok, so you’re playing a psyker, you
are now ready to launch your first psychic power. You’ve picked the psychic
power you want to cast (its either a prepared psychic power or in the case of
an innate psyker any psychic power you know) and you’re ready to hit some orks
with it. Is there anything else you need to do?
Sadly yes. This is one of the core
differences between the Dungeons and Dragons world and the Warhammer 40,000
world. Psychic powers are very dangerous. Every time you cast a psychic power you
put yourself at serious risk!
Every time a psychic power is cast
you need to make a psychic check. The psychic check is a special check that
determines whether the psychic power is cast or the casting fails and the
psychic power is wasted. In addition, if the casting fails due to a psychic
check failure there is a small chance that the character is affected by a
Daemonic Attack.
THE PSYCHIC CHECK
Things dwell in the warp, dark
things, just waiting for an unwary mind to open so they can be freed of the
Immaterium and let loose in the physical realm. Psykers are the most vulnerable
to these warp creatures.
The Psychic Check is a special
check made every time a psychic power is used. It is a Psychic Sense check with
a bonus equal to your Psychic Level. The DC is variable and depends on the
level of the Psychic Power being cast.
It is important to note that a 1 is
not an automatic failure for Psychic Checks which means that many characters do
not have to roll often for low level powers.
|
Power Level |
0 |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
8th |
9th |
|
Psychic Check DC |
5 |
10 |
15 |
20 |
25 |
30 |
35 |
40 |
45 |
50 |
Failing the psychic check is very
dangerous. See the table below for details.
|
Table: Failing the Psychic
Check |
|
|
Amount Failed By |
Effect |
|
Less than 5 |
Psychic power failed |
|
5 – 9 |
Backlash: The psyker is racked
with pain and takes 1d20 points of damage that cannot be reduced by any kind
of damage reduction |
|
10+ |
Daemonic Attack: The psyker’s mind
is attacked by a Daemon. The psyker needs to take a Will save DC 20 + the
power level of the psychic power being cast. Failure means the Daemon has
consumed part of the psyker’s soul. The psyker is permanently drained of 2
points of Constitution. Additionally he falls to the ground unconscious at -1
hit points, bleeding at a rate of 1 hit point per round. Should the psyker
die here, he will arise suddenly, posessed by the daemon that attacked him.
The GM gains control of the character who retains all his statistics and
psychic powers (and the 2 constitution). The daemon will retreat until he can
take physical form which is a two hour long ritual. The exact nature of the
daemon is up to the GM but it could be anything from a screamer of tzeentch
to a great unclean one hidden there. |
SPECIAL PSYCHIC POWER EFFECTS
Many special psychic power effects
are handled according to the school of the psychic powers in question Certain
other special psychic power features are found across psychic power schools.
Attacks: Some psychic
power descriptions refer to attacking. All offensive combat actions, even those
that don’t damage opponents are considered attacks. Attempts to turn or rebuke
undead count as attacks. All psychic powers that opponents resist with saving
throws, that deal damage, or that otherwise harm or hamper subjects are
attacks. Psychic powers that summon monsters or other allies are not attacks
because the psychic powers themselves don’t harm anyone.
Bonus Types: Usually, a
bonus has a type that indicates how the psychic power grants the bonus. The
important aspect of bonus types is that two bonuses of the same type don’t
generally stack. With the exception of dodge bonuses, most circumstance
bonuses, and racial bonuses, only the better bonus works (see Combining Psychic
Effects, below). The same principle applies to penalties—a character taking two
or more penalties of the same type applies only the worst one.
COMBINING PSYCHIC EFFECTS
Psychic powers or psychic effects usually
work as described, no matter how many other psychic powers or psychic effects
happen to be operating in the same area or on the same recipient. Except in
special cases, a psychic power does not affect the way another psychic power
operates. Whenever a psychic power has a specific effect on other psychic
powers, the psychic power description explains that effect. Several other
general rules apply when psychic powers or psychic effects operate in the same
place:
Stacking Effects:
Psychic powers that provide bonuses or penalties on attack rolls, damage rolls,
saving throws, and other attributes usually do not stack with themselves. More
generally, two bonuses of the same type don’t stack even if they come from
different psychic powers (or from effects other than psychic powers; see Bonus
Types, above).
Different Bonus Names: The bonuses
or penalties from two different psychic powers stack if the modifiers are of
different types. A bonus that isn’t named stacks with any bonus.
Same Effect More than Once in Different Strengths: In cases when two or more identical psychic powers are
operating in the same area or on the same target, but at different strengths,
only the best one applies.
Same Effect with Differing Results: The same psychic power can sometimes produce varying
effects if applied to the same recipient more than once. Usually the last
psychic power in the series trumps the others. None of the previous psychic
powers are actually removed or dipsychic powered, but their effects become
irrelevant while the final psychic power in the series lasts.
One Effect Makes Another Irrelevant: Sometimes, one psychic power can render a later psychic
power irrelevant. Both psychic powers are still active, but one has rendered
the other useless in some fashion.
Multiple Mental Control Effects: Sometimes psychic effects that establish mental control
render each other irrelevant, such as a psychic power that removes the subjects
ability to act. Mental controls that don’t remove the recipient’s ability to
act usually do not interfere with each other. If a creature is under the mental
control of two or more creatures, it tends to obey each to the best of its
ability, and to the extent of the control each effect allows. If the controlled
creature receives conflicting orders simultaneously, the competing controllers
must make opposed Charisma checks to determine which one the creature obeys.
Psychic powers with Opposite Effects: Psychic powers with opposite effects apply normally, with
all bonuses, penalties, or changes accruing in the order that they apply. Some
psychic powers negate or counter each other. This is a special effect that is
noted in a psychic power’s description.
Instantaneous Effects:
Two or more psychic powers with instantaneous durations work cumulatively when
they affect the same target.